Hen&#39;s nest



c. D. FIRSTER Oct. .6, 193

HEN s NEST Filed Nov. 2, 195,5

Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

This invention relates to hens nests and par,- ticularly to those nests designed for the purpose of permitting the entrance of a hen to the nest and then closing the entrance opening'after her 5 and immediately opening the door .of an exit opening, so that. the hen, after having laid an egg, may passinto another yard from those hens who have not laid.

The generalobject of this invention is to provide a nest of this character with very simple and effective means forsecuring the opening and closing of the exit and outlet openings and which is provided with meanswhereby the closing and opening of the doorsmay be prevented whenever desired, so that the nest will act as an ordinary nest.

Another object is to provide means of this char.- acter having vertically sliding doors and a. lever actuated by the weight of the hen on the nest which will cause the elosingof one door and. the opening of the other door.

Other objects will'appear in the following description.

My invention is illustrated drawing'wherein:

Fig-urel is a vertical section of a nest con struoted in. accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevation of a portion of .one side frame of the nest, the corresponding lever, a counterbalancing spring, and the meansfor latching the lever againstactuation';

.Figure 3 is .a fragmentary. cross-sectional view through the. nest .showing the two levers and the connected parts.

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that the frame of the nest is formed of vertical angle irons connected by transverse angle irons H and I2, the angle iron 1:2 being disposed above the lower ends .of the vertical irons It, so as to provide legs resting upon thefloor H3. The walls of the nest are preferably of sheet metal .as-is the roof. The nest has opposed openings l4 and I5, the opening li41being considered in the description as the entrance opening and the opening I5 is considered as the exit opening. The opening M will open into one yard while the opening [5 will open into another yard or enclosure.

The nest i6 is connected by a rivet I! or equivalent member to one arm l8 projecting from the lower end of a lever l9. There are two of these levers disposed one on each side of the nest, each of these levers being T-shaped at its lower end, as illustrated in Figure 2. The nest I6 is also attached at one side by means of the rivet 20 course of the in the accompanying to a vertical guide rod 2| which extends downward through the horizontal flange of the angle iron 12 and is guided. therein. Each lever 19 is pivoted by means of'a bolt orrivet 22 to anangle iron 23 which extendsfrom front to rear of the 5 nest, there being two of these a leirons, one on each side, the horizontal flange of. this angle iron 2.3 bein out away, h wever, adiao ntthe lov r as shown in Figure 1, so as t pe m th operation of the levers. With this construction, it 10 will be seen that when the: hen'enters and sits upon the nest that the weight of the hen will cause the depression of the arm l8, and this will cause the oscillation of the levers 1.9 in a clockwise direction in Figure 1.: The lower end of each lever 15 1.9 is. also provided with-an arm 2.4, as shown in Figure 2, which is opposed to the arm L8. The arm 24 of .one lever, as illustrated in Figure 1,is connected toithe piston 25 .of a dashpot 26, which acts as a cushioning means; this piston being less in diameter than the interior of the dashpot soas to permit. the passage of airaround it-but simply retarding the movement of the lever. The arm 24 of the other lever. L9, however, as i1.- lustrated inFigures 2 and dis connected byia spring 21 to. thecorrespondingangle iron 12, so that when the hengets off the. nest, the spring 21 will :pull the lever 49 over to the position shown in Figure. 1 opening the door at the entrance and closing the .door at the exit.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the door at the exit is designated 28 and is composed of flexibly con.- nected strips sliding in vertical guides on each side of the door opening. .:'I-he.ex-it .door 29 is of the same character as the door. .28. Disposed at the upper end of the nest housing are angle iron guideszBll which extend transversely'across the nest, each of theseguides at its opposite ends zheing downwardly curved, as at .31, so that the doors :28 and. 29, as they'are pulled upward, will ride over thisdownwardly curved portion 31 and then ride along the.-rai'ls..3.0... The inner ends of the doors 2.8 and 29 are connected "by chains or like elements ;32 to the upper ends .of the levers l9. Thus when the lever I9 is in the position shown in Fig. l, the door 28 will be closed while the door 29 will be drawn upward. When, however, a hen enters and sits upon the nest It, the weight of the hen will cause the levers [9 to move from left to right in Figure 1, opening the door 28 and closing the door 29 which controls the entrance opening. This movement of the levers from the position shown in Figure 1 to the other position is retarded by the dashpot 26 so as to prevent a too sudden movement of these levers and a too sudden descent of the nest which might startle the hen.

In case it is desired to prevent the automatic actuation of the doors 28 and 29 by the hen on the nest, I provide set screws 33, as shown in Figure 3, and also in Figure 2, extending through the vertical flanges of the angle irons I2, which when turned inward, impinge against the guide rods 2| and lock these guide rods from actuation. Thus the operator may open either door and then lock the levers against further movement, and the nest may then be used as an ordinary nest, having merely one opening for entrance or exit. Of course, when the screws 33 are turned outward, the guide bars are left free to shift vertically and the nest then becomes automatic in its action as regards the doors. It will be noted that the guide bars also prevent any lateral swinging movement of the nest or any tipping of the nest.

A floor 34 is provided on a level with the lower ends of the entrance and exit openings, the nest being set in an opening in this floor, as shown clearlyin Figure 1. The walls of the nest housing will be made of sheet metal riveted or spotwelded to the frame. The frame elements will be welded together.

What is claimed is:-

1. A hens nest of the character described, including a housing, opposed walls of the housing having one an entrance opening and the other an exit opening, sliding doors for the entrance and exit openings, a vertically movable nest disposed within said housing and levers one on each side of the nest operatively pivoted to the housing, each of said levers having an angular arm pivotally connected to the nest of each of said levers at its upper end being operatively connected tothe doors, and means normally urging the nest upward and the levers to a position whereone door is closed and the opposed door open.

2. A hens nest of the character described, including a housing, opposed walls of the housing having one an entrance opening and the other an exit opening, sliding doors for the'entrance and exit openings, a vertically movable nest disposed within said housing and levers one on each side of the nest operatively pivoted to the housing, each of said levers having an angular arm pivotally connected. to the nest and eachof said levers at its upper end being operatively connected to the doors, spring means normally urging the nest upward and the levers to a position Where one door is closed and the opposed door open, and manually adjustablemeans for holding said levers from actuation when desired.

3. A hens nest of the character described, including a housing, opposed walls of the housing having one an entrance opening and the'other an exit opening, sliding doors for the entrance and exit openings, a vertically movable nest disposed within the housing and levers one oneach side of the nest operatively pivoted to the housing, each of said levers having an angular arm pivotally connecting to the nest, and having an opposed angularly extending arm, each of said levers at its upper end being operatively connected to the inner ends of the doors whereby to cause their simultaneous movement as the levers are oscillated, a spring connected to the lastnamed arm of one lever and causing its depression and the elevation of the nest, and a cushioning means connected to the last-named arm of the other lever and acting to retard the simultaneous movement of both levers in either direction.

4. A nest of the character described, including a housing having opposed side walls and front and rear walls, the front and rear walls having openings, a floor extending across the housing, opposed angle irons attached to the side walls and supporting said floor, the floor having an opening, a hens nest disposed in said opening, oppositely disposed levers adjacent the side walls, angle irons supporting the floor and to which the lower ends of the levers are pivoted, each lever at its lower end having an angularly projecting arm pivoted to the nest and an opposed arm, a dashpot operatively connected to the last named arm of one lever, a contractile spring operatively connected to the last-named arm of the other lever and urging the levers to a predetermined position, vertical guide members pivoted to the opposed arms of said levers and extending downward through apertures in the frame of the nest, opposed doors controlling said openings and formed of flexibly connected sections, the inner ends of said sections being operatively connected to the upper ends of said levers and supporting guides each having downwardly curved portions adjacent the openings in the walls over which guides the flexible doors operate.

5. A nest of the character described, including a housing having opposed side walls and front and. rear walls, the front and. rear walls having openings, a floor extending across the housing, opposed angle irons attached to the side walls and supporting said floor, the floor having an opening, a hens nest disposed in said opening, oppositely disposed levers adjacent the side walls, angle irons supporting the floor and to which the lower ends of the levers are pivoted, each lever at its lower end having an angularly projecting arm pivoted to the nest and an opposed arm, a dashpot operatively connected to the last-named arm of one lever, a contractile spring operatively connected to the last-named arm of the other lever and urging the levers to a predetermined position, vertical guide members pivoted to the opposed arms of said levers and extending downward, and means engageable with the guide members to lock them against vertical movement whereby to lock the levers against movement and thereby hold one of said doors in an open position and the other door in a closed position.

CHARLES DELOS FmsTER. 

